101 Uses For
by doesitsaycolonel
Summary: First Ironman Fic. I started with a small vignette if you will. Please excuse my lack of dialogue and beta -ing. Camping can be fun, if you are prepared.


This came to me after seeing Ironman 2 for the second time

I don't own anything to do with this subject although I can dream...

101 uses for...

In a sky full of stars it takes something really special to stand out.

People are often special in ways that are not clear at first.

On a semi desert scrub land, full of rocks, an orange tent stood out. A slightly more demure 4 wheel drive was planted nearby, as if guarding the temporary construct. In fact, it was – every 30 seconds a scan roved the area from the front of the Discovery, scheduled by the onboard AI. Jarvis made a note as he did every thirty seconds that there was nothing much going on.

If Tony were to ask him what he had seen Jarvis would have said "Nothing much".He was playing with being casual and laid back in his language interface. He wasn't too sure if Tony had programmed him as such or if it was his own idea. His creator may have programmed him not to really know that either.

It was pretty dark.

A gentle snore vibrated the atmosphere inside the tent. One of the occupants thought it was a good idea to spend a bit of time away from it all, and the other occupant wished she was currently away from all of it.

They were taking turns agreeing with what the other wanted – they had just embarked upon this relationship, and decided that - rather-it was Pepper who had decided that it would be a good idea, to schedule time to be with each other on a, well,... schedule.

She needed order, Tony needed chaos. She hoped that they would meet somewhere in the middle.

When they did meet : fireworks, but in a really good way. She was liking this idea. He liked everything she did although he always liked to complain. No change there then.

It was his turn to decide on what to do with the one night that they had with each other this week. He was happy to schedule their private moments whenever he could, (post board meetings for example – even on the very same table that had taken part in the board meeting, behind a securely locked door of course) but this event was, after all, on a list somewhere in Peppers organiser . He liked to keep her ordered mind happy as well.

A tight smile was the response he received when he landed this one on her, but next week it was her turn. Her payback was a spa/shopping day ending in an evening in a romantic hotel in British Columbia. Well, why not. They had a jet or two.

"Tony, do you have to sleep on your back?"

Pepper disliked it when she heard herself whine but she was entitled to sometimes – he couldn't hear her anyway. She had a lot to do the next day; meetings and reading to catch up on. She really needed her 6 hours sleep. As he rumbled away to himself in an annoyingly irregular rhythm, she beat an imaginary tattoo on her front teeth with her fingernails, calculating....

Probable sleep time, plus a likelihood of fooling around in the morning, created a probability of a late wheels up when they returned to the City.

There was nothing else to do. She couldn't sleep, and she knew what would get her to sleep.

The situation would have to be taken advantage of.

Single sleeping bags. Go figure. He thought it was a challenge.

Pepper pulled herself closer to him, dragging his sleeping form towards her in turn by the edges of his bag. The heat radiating from his top half was increased by his own mini reactor, he just had his legs undercover. He had even stripped off his T shirt as he had finally made his trip into dreamland, after a very nice thirty minutes trying to get into one sleeping bag.

She ran her fingers over the centre of his chest, the soft thrum of the arc reactor beating; keeping his heart on its projected course. His muscles twitched unexpectedly and he sighed as he subconsciously recognized her touch. That still gave her a buzz. Her touch, his heart, his mind, she loved every inch of him, but he drove her crazy.

Unzipping her bag, she grabbed Tony's rucksack which was over her side – he didn't like anything too close to him in the tent (apart from her) so, as he had moved so much already over to her side, she had about a foot to manoeuvre. She mused for a minute while hoisting his belongings over his body. He gets everywhere she thought, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Tony honey, just come over here a little and Ill make it all better".

This provoked a sleepy crooked grin; more of a leer actually. How did he manage to do that when he was sound asleep?

Gently pulling him forward, she rested the rucksack behind his right shoulder propping him into a position facing her. She waited a beat to make sure he didn't wake up, then returning to her own things, she rustled about, grabbing something out of her bag.

Satisfied, she nestled against to him, keeping herself warm in his radiance she got out her book and started to read.

Darn thing was a really useful nightlight.


End file.
